1. Field of the Invention
This patent application relates to Christmas tree stands, especially by mounting the tree with a pot nailed to the trunk of the tree. The tree is then easily inserted into the stand. It is then a very simple task to adjust the stand to permit the tree to be erected to stand upright every time. One simply slides the bowl, containing the pot and the tree to an upright position. The bowl has a spherical bottom surface, and sits on a matching spherical to surface of the base. The bowl of the stand holds sufficient water to last the entire season, which keeps the tree green, reducing potential fire hazards.
It is a simple task to disassemble the tree at the end of the season and to drain the remaining water in the bowl, by simply pouring the water into a proper receptacle. The tree lot personnel can install the pot onto the tree trunk by pounding in some nails. This frees the purchaser from complex or time consuming assembly. All the purchaser is required to do is fill the bowl with water, put the cover onto the base, set the tree with the pot into the bowl, and make a final adjustment the bowl to straighten the tree.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Years ago, the tree stands consisted simply of two crossed boards. The bottom of the tree was sawed as straight as possible, and the trunk was nailed into the boards. With this simple design there were no provisions for a source of water. As time went on, a plastic bowl was placed on the boards and the tree bottom was nailed through the bowl. A soft mastic or waterproof roofing material was placed between the bowl and the boards to prevent water leakage. The tree was straightened by loosening the nails on the tilt side and the tree straightened. It was difficult to get the residual water out of the bowl at Season's end. In addition, the bowls occasionally leaked. The bowl, the cross boards and the tree were discarded at the end of the season. The cost of the bowl and boards was not recoverable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,149 by Evans, Jr. et al. describes a tree stand having four legs of rigid material and rigidly interconnected. The invention consists of three rebar welded legs with a center spike, which is inserted into the bottom of the tree. A plastic bowl is placed below the legs of the tree stand. The rebar spike is threaded into the bottom of the tree trunk. If a hole is drilled into the bottom of the cut trunk, it must be drilled absolutely in line with the centerline of a straight upright tree to accept the spike. If the hole is drilled crooked, the assembly has to be pulled, rotated, or pounded loose and that is a major chore since the spike is threaded into the base. Next, the drilled hole has to be plugged and re-drilled, or the trunk cut off, re-drilled and the rebar stand threaded back in. When it is time for the homeowner to remove the stand, that is a major problem. The task is so difficult that many just throw out the stand with the tree.
A variation of the aforementioned tree stand uses three rebar welded legs with a center spike, which is inserted into the bottom of the tree. A plastic bowl rests on top of the rebar. The plastic bowl has a center hole in the bottom with a rubber grommet attached. The rebar spike is pounded through the grommet and hole in the bottom of the trunk of the tree. The tree trunk must be cut absolutely straight across perpendicular to the centerline of an upright tree, since the trunk bottom rests on the bowl and top of the rebar. The hole that is drilled into the tree trunk must be drilled absolutely in line with the centerline of a straight upright tree to accept the spike. The spike may be partially serrated with horizontal grooves to hold the tree firmly in place. If the hole is drilled off center, the assembly has to be pulled, rotated, or pounded loose which is a makes correct orientation of the tree difficult since the serrations dig into the tree. Then, the drilled hole has to be plugged and re-drilled. If the drilled hole is not plugged, the tree trunk must be cut off above the drilled hole, re-drilled and the spike hammered back in.
When the homeowner wants to remove the stand, he encounters a major difficulty. Just removing the spike from the tree trunk is such a difficult task, many owners just throw out the stand with the tree. That expense is not recoverable. The grommet that is supposed to prevent leaking would sometimes leak damaging the floor or carpet. Removing the remaining water from the bowl at the end of the season is very difficult and time consuming. An owner has to use sponges and towels to extract the water and rinse out the bowl. Another problem with the stand is that the ends of the rebar dig into the floor or carpet causing the owner to buy plastic caps or pads to prevent the rebar from scraping over the floor. The stand cannot be conveniently moved or rotated without lifting it up. It is not uncommon for the tree stand to damage the flooring that it is placed upon.
Another design as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,913,395; 5,209,450; 5,249,772; and 5,388,799 uses a small bowl with a spike at the bottom, a metal ring went around the top of the stand and four drop hammered metal legs were held by this ring. To support the tree, four opposing screws were turned against the tree trunk. The tilt of the tree was adjusted by loosening one or two screws on one side and tightening one or two screws on the opposite side. This was extremely difficult to do since one had to be down low on the floor. It really required two people, one to hold the tree up straight and one to tighten the screws. The bowl didn't hold enough water to keep the tree from drying out during the entire Christmas/New Year's season. The screws were difficult to adjust properly and the stand could only hold small trees.
A number of tree stand designs U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,571,882; 4,408,415; and 4,156,323 use a ball and socket device to get the tree to stand up straight. All of these use complicated mechanical means of holding and adjusting the tree trunk. They work primarily for smaller type trees and all of them do not have a sufficiently large water reservoir.
Several other tree stand designs U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,381,621; 5,161,768; and 5,522,177 incorporate vertical support members with various tree trunk securing members to position and support the tree. These supports are generally adjacent to the tree and take up a wider “footprint” than the other, more traditional stands. They also do not have large water reservoirs.
Yet another popular design as seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,796,382; 5,114,113; 5,375,808; and 5,845,890 use clamping devices with or without a spike in the receiving water reservoir to position and support the weight of the tree. The orientation of the tree is dependent upon the position that the tree is in when the clamping devices are activated. Most of these designs incorporate small water basins.
A rather unique design, U.S. Pat. No. 6,129,325, uses a system of inflatable bellows together with a support spike in the water reservoir to position the tree. This design, once again, has a small water container.
The previous patent by Welzen, U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,108 used a sliding clip device to hold the nails. This device was not strong enough to withstand loads imposed on them when the tree was installed and positioned. The stand used a one-piece blow molded container, which was expensive to manufacture, took up a lot of space and increased the cost of shipping and storage. This design did not have a removable top for easy cleanup of water at the end of the Christmas season. Nor did it have sloping inward sides that guide the tree into the attached pot.
With the exception of the previous patent by Welzen, all previous tree stands did not hold sufficient water to keep the tree green all season long to reduce the fire hazard. All are complicated with many manufactured detailed parts. They make it difficult to set up the tree and to take it down.